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SAN BERNARDINO, CA- The San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation is happy to announce the 2014 Senior King and Queen, Heck and Barbara Thomas. Barbara was born in Six, West Virginia and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and Sanford, North Carolina. Heck was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. They have been residents of Highland since 1985 and Heck retired from the United States Air Force in 1988. They are the proud parents of Yolanda, grandparents of Kristy and Kamari, and great-grandparents of Jaxson. The Thomas’ have been very active in San Bernardino. They attend the Traditional Community Fellowship Chapel in Highland, a church started by the military men and women who were stationed at Norton Air Force Base. Barbara served as Women Auxiliary Chairperson, special events planner, and is in charge of social activities and raising funds to support the church ministry. She also volunteered as a mentor for some of the adult students at the San Bernardino Adult School who did not have positive female influences in their lives. She worked for ten years in the Army and Air Force Exchange Service at Norton and Malmstrom (Montana) until her medical retirement in 1989. She was a member of the Non-Commissioned Officers Wives club and a member of the Radiant Rubies of Highland, a chapter of the Red Hat Society.
Heck was employed by the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health from 1988 to 1996 as a Mental Health Employment Specialist; a Teacher on Assignment for The San Bernardino City Unified School District and worked at the San Bernardino Adult School from 1996-2010. He has been active in the community, serving as church executive board president, past president and board member of the Kiwanis Club of Highland, past president and board member of the Frazee Community Center, past San Bernardino chapter president of the California Council of Adult Educators and has worked and volunteered with programs to assist the homeless for over 25 years. Heck has also served with the Highland Youth Accountability Board. He has received the Black Rose Award from the San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation, several Kiwanian of the Year Awards, Hixson Fellow, Dunlap Fellow, and several Kiwanis Distinguished Service Awards. He is also the recipient of the George McCune Collaborative Award.
They are both enjoying retirement, community service, and spending quality time with their great grandson, Jaxson.